U.S. patent number 10,270,192 [Application Number 15/849,613] was granted by the patent office on 2019-04-23 for cable connector assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to FOXCONN INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY LIMITED. The grantee listed for this patent is FOXCONN INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY LIMITED. Invention is credited to Ru-Yang Guo, Shuai-Hui Huang, Hai-Li Wang, Jerry Wu, Qing-Man Zhu.
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United States Patent |
10,270,192 |
Huang , et al. |
April 23, 2019 |
Cable connector assembly
Abstract
A cable connector assembly includes: an insulative housing; a
printed circuit board (PCB) received in the insulative housing, the
PCB having an upper surface; an electrical connector electrically
connected with the PCB; a cable; a light member mounted on the PCB;
a light guide member mounted on the PCB; and a shading member
covered on the light guide member; wherein the electrical connector
includes plural conductive terminals and plural fixing fingers
fixed on the PCB, the PCB includes plural conductive pads exposed
on the upper surface of the PCB and fixed with the conductive
terminals and plural mounting holes on the upper surface of the PCB
and matched with the fixing fingers.
Inventors: |
Huang; Shuai-Hui (Kunshan,
CN), Wang; Hai-Li (Kunshan, CN), Guo;
Ru-Yang (Kunshan, CN), Zhu; Qing-Man (Kunshan,
CN), Wu; Jerry (New Taipei, CA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
FOXCONN INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY LIMITED |
Grand Cayman |
N/A |
KY |
|
|
Assignee: |
FOXCONN INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY
LIMITED (Grand Cayman, KY)
|
Family
ID: |
59511356 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/849,613 |
Filed: |
December 20, 2017 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20180175526 A1 |
Jun 21, 2018 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Dec 20, 2016 [CN] |
|
|
2016 2 1400395 U |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
12/7052 (20130101); H01R 13/7172 (20130101); H01R
12/75 (20130101); H01R 13/6581 (20130101); H01R
12/707 (20130101); H01R 12/7064 (20130101); H01R
12/716 (20130101); H01R 13/6594 (20130101); G02B
6/122 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G02B
6/122 (20060101); H01R 12/71 (20110101); H01R
12/70 (20110101); H01R 12/75 (20110101); H01R
13/6594 (20110101); H01R 13/717 (20060101); H01R
13/6581 (20110101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Leon; Edwin A.
Assistant Examiner: Jimenez; Oscar C
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Chung; Wei Te Chang; Ming Chieh
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A cable connector assembly comprising: an insulative housing; a
printed circuit board (PCB) received in the insulative housing, the
PCB having an upper surface; an electrical connector electrically
connected with the PCB; a cable; a light member mounted on the PCB;
a light guide member mounted on the PCB; and a shading member
covered on the light guide member; wherein the electrical connector
includes a plurality of conductive terminals and a plurality of
fixing fingers fixed on the PCB, the PCB includes plural conductive
pads exposed on the upper surface of the PCB and fixed with the
conductive terminals and plural mounting holes on the upper surface
of the PCB and matched with the fixing fingers; wherein the
conductive terminal includes a tail section welded on the
conductive pad by SMT process, and the fixing fingers are received
in the mounting holes and welded on the PCB; wherein an extending
direction of the fixing finger is perpendicular to an extending
direction of the tail section; wherein the conductive pads are
divided into two groups in a left and right ends, and the mounting
holes are divided into three groups and distributed in a left end,
right end, and a middle of the two groups of conductive pads.
2. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising plural magnetic elements mounted on the PCB, a front
plug held in the light guide member, and a metal ring assembled on
the front end of the cable, the metal ring including a fixing ring
outside the cable and a positioning portion welded on the PCB.
3. A cable connector assembly comprising: a housing defining an
axial direction thereof; a printed circuit board (PCB) received in
the housing and having opposite upper and bottom surfaces in a
mating direction; a light member mounted upon the bottom surface; a
light guiding member located on the bottom surface and adjacent to
the light member; a cable mechanically and electrically connected
to one end of the PCB along an axial direction perpendicular to the
mating direction; and an electrical connector mounted upon the
upper surface of the PCB and including an insulative housing
associated with a metallic shield to retain two groups of contacts
which are located around two opposite end regions of the insulative
housing in said axial direction; wherein said contacts are
surface-mounted upon the upper surface of the PCB while the
metallic shield has two groups of fixing finger located at two
opposite ends thereof along the axial direction to extend through
corresponding holes in the PCB in a direction opposite to the
mating direction.
4. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the
metallic shield is covered behind the insulative housing in a
vertical direction perpendicular to both the axial direction and
the mating direction.
5. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the
housing further includes a pair of positioning posts at two
opposite ends along the axial direction to be received within a
pair of corresponding through holes in the PCB.
6. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein said
metallic shield further includes a pair of positioning pins at said
two opposite ends, and said pair of positioning pins are inserted
into the positioning posts, respectively.
7. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the
metallic shield has an additional fixing finger at a center
position in the axial direction.
8. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the
light member is located upon the other end of the PCB opposite to
the cable in said axial direction.
9. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the
connector includes two terminal modules to retain the two groups of
contacts.
10. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein
said metallic shield includes two pieces respectively associated
with the two terminal modules.
11. A cable connector assembly comprising: an insulative housing; a
printed circuit board (PCB) received in the insulative housing, the
PCB having an upper surface; an electrical connector electrically
connected with the PCB; a cable; a light member mounted on the PCB;
a light guide member mounted on the PCB; and a shading member
covered on the light guide member; wherein the electrical connector
includes a plurality of conductive terminals and a plurality of
fixing fingers fixed on the PCB, the PCB includes plural conductive
pads exposed on the upper surface of the PCB and fixed with the
conductive terminals and plural mounting holes on the upper surface
of the PCB and matched with the fixing fingers; wherein the
electrical connector includes a housing receiving the conductive
terminals and a plurality of metal strengthening members enclosed
in the housing, the metal strengthening members including a main
body and a plurality of fixing fingers extending downward from the
main body.
12. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein
the electrical connector includes two metal strengthening members,
each of the metal strengthening members having three fixing
fingers.
13. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein
the housing includes a base and a frontal mating portion, the
mating portion has a mating surface along a front and back
direction, and the conductive terminal includes a contact section
exposed to the mating portion.
14. The cable connector assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein
the electrical connector includes a housing and an insulating
protrusion receiving the conductive terminals, and the metal
strengthening members are attached to an outer surface of the
insulating protrusion.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a cable connector assembly of a
firm structure.
2. Description of Related Arts
U.S. Pat. No. 9,780,503 discloses a plug connector assembly for
mating with a complementary connector. The plug connector assembly
includes a plug connector and a cable connecting with the plug
connector. The plug connector includes an insulative shell having a
receiving space, a printed circuit board received in the insulative
shell, a mating member mounted on the insulative shell and
electrically connecting with the printed circuit board, and a light
guide transmitting the light of a light member. The printed circuit
board has a plurality of mounting holes. The mating member has a
plurality of conductive terminals vertically inserted into the
mounting holes and fixed on the printed circuit board by
welding.
An improved cable connector assembly making a better use of its
internal printed circuit board is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a
cable connector assembly with a firm structure and improved
layout.
To achieve the above object, a cable connector assembly comprises:
an insulative housing; a printed circuit board (PCB) received in
the insulative housing, the PCB having an upper surface; an
electrical connector electrically connected with the PCB; a cable;
a light member mounted on the PCB; a light guide member mounted on
the PCB; and a shading member covered on the light guide member;
wherein the electrical connector includes plural conductive
terminals and plural fixing fingers fixed on the PCB, the PCB
includes plural conductive pads exposed on the upper surface of the
PCB and fixed with the conductive terminals and plural mounting
holes on the upper surface of the PCB and matched with the fixing
fingers.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will
become more apparent from the following detailed description when
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cable connector assembly;
FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of cable connector assembly as
show in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is another exploded view of cable connector assembly as
shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a partial exploded view of cable connector assembly as
shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a further exploded view of cable connector assembly as
shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a partial exploded view of electrical connector in this
invention;
FIG. 7 is a further exploded view of electrical connector as shown
in FIG. 6; and
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the cable connector assembly
tacked along line 8-8 of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of
the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, a cable connector assembly 100 includes
an insulative housing 1, a printed circuit board (PCB) 2 received
in the insulative housing/case 1, an electrical connector 3
electrically connected with PCB 2, a light member 4 mounted on the
PCB 2, magnetic elements 10 mounted on the PCB 2, a light guide
member 5, a shading member 6 covered on the light guide member 5, a
front plug 7 held in light guide member 5, and a cable 8
electrically connected with the rear end of the PCB 2, and a metal
ring 9 assembled on the front end of the cable 8.
The insulative housing/case 1 is cylindrical to define an axial
direction, and includes a housing body 11, a receiving cavity 12
enclosed by housing body 11, a light transmitting area 13 mounted
on the housing body 11, a port 14 mounted on the front end of the
housing body 11, and a channel 15 formed by extending port 14
backwards. The thickness of the light transmitting area 13 is
smaller than that of the other parts of the insulative housing
1.
The PCB 2 is mounted in the receiving cavity 12 and includes an
upper surface 21 and a lower surface 22 opposite to the upper
surface 21, a plurality of conductive pads 23 electrically
connected with the electrical connector 3 and a plurality of
mounting holes 24 mated with the electrical connector 3. Two
magnetic elements 10 and electrical connector 3 are mounted on the
upper surface 21 of the PCB 2, and two magnetic elements 10 are
located on both sides of the electric connector 3 in the
longitudinal. The light member 4 and light guide member 5 are
mounted on the lower surface 22 of the PCB 2 and away from one end
of cable 8. In this embodiment, the conductive pads 23 are divided
into two groups in the left and right ends, and each group has six
parts in two rows. The mounting hole 24 is divided into three
groups, and two of each group are respectively distributed in the
left, right ends and the middle of the two groups of conductive
pads 23. In other embodiment, the quantity and arrangement of the
conductor pads 23 and the mounting hole 24 can be adjusted
according to the actual situation.
The light member 4 is mounted on the front area of the lower
surface 22. In this embodiment, the light member 4 is a light
emitting diode (LED). In other embodiment, the light member 4 can
be used as other light emitting element. The light emitted by the
light member 4 is transmitted to the light transmitting area 13 of
the insulative housing 1 by the light guide member 5. The shading
member 6 includes a light transmitting hole 60 providing part of
the light guide member 5 through.
The front plug 7 is mounted on the insulative housing 1 to seal the
port 11, and cooperated with the electrical connector 3 to seal the
channel 13. The front plug 7 comprises a main portion 71 for being
mated with the port 11, and an extending portion 72 extending from
the main portion 71 with a free end interference fitting with one
of the recesses 34. The extending portion 72 is cooperated with the
electrical connector 3 to seal the channel 13.
The cable 8 is connected to the back end area of the PCB 2. In this
embodiment, the cable 8 is welded on the conductive pads 23 of the
PCB 2. The cable 8 includes a power wire 82 and signal wires 81
located on both sides of the power wire 82. The metal ring 9
includes a fixing ring 91 outside the cable 8, a positioning
portion 92 vertically welded on the PCB 2 and a connect plate 93
connecting the positioning portion 92 and fixing ring 91.
Referring to FIGS. 6 to 7, the electrical connector 3 includes
housing 33, two terminal modules 34 mounted in the electrical
connector 3 and two metal strengthening members or shields 35. Two
terminal modules 34 are set up and down separately and fixed
together with each other. Two metal strengthening members 35 are
separately assembled on the outer surface of the corresponding
terminal module 34. The housing 33 is formed out of terminal module
34 and metal strengthening members by coating/over molding, and the
housing 33 is made of plastic material. The formed housing 33
includes a base 331 and a mating portion 332 forward protruding
from the front end of the base 331. The mating portion 332 extends
along a front and back direction and forms a longitudinal structure
along the left and right direction, i.e., the housing 33 is molded
to the two terminal modules 34 and the metal strengthening members
35 to form the base 331 and the mating portion 332 and therefore
the electrical connector 3.
Each of terminal modules 34 includes an insulating protrusion 342
and a row of conductive terminals 341 enclosed in the insulating
protrusion 342. In this embodiment, the conductive terminals 341
are formed in the insulating protrusion 342 by an insertion type
coating. Each row of conductive terminals 341 includes six
conductive terminals 341 and divided into two groups in the left
and right ends. Each of the conductive terminals 341 includes a
contact section 3411 exposed to the mating portion 332, a tail
section 3413 backward extending from the housing 33, and a
connecting section 3412 connecting the contact section 3411 and the
tail section 3413. The insulating protrusion 342 is molded on the
connecting section 3412 with the contact section 3411 and the tail
section 3413 exposed. The tail section 3413 is perpendicular to the
connection section 3412. The bottom of the tail section 3413 is
parallel to the upper surface 21 of the PCB 2, and the bottom of
the tail section 3413 is fitted to the conductive pads 23 on the
upper part of the PCB 2. The tail section 3413 of conductive
terminals 341 is respectively mounted on the corresponding
conductive pads 23 of the PCB 2 by SMT process. A single side
welding is carried out through the SMT reflow welding, and the
conductive terminals 341 are fixed to the PCB 2 to realize the
positioning of the electrical connector 3 and the PCB 2. The outer
surface of the contact section 3411 is flat or coplanar with the
mating surface 3321. Of course, in other embodiment, the outer
surface of the contact section 3411 can also protrude and extend
the mating surface 3321. The mating surface 3321 is an inward
recesses 3322 arranged in parallel with the contact section 3411,
and the contact section 3411 symmetrically arranged on the left and
right sides of the contact section 3411 of the mating surface 3321.
In each row of the contact section 3311, each three forms a group
forming a total of two groups and symmetrically locates on the left
and right sides of the recesses 3322.
The metal strengthening members 35 are pasted on the outer surface
of the corresponding terminal modules 34, and have an opening 350
corresponding to the injection hole 3420 of the terminal module 34,
so as to provide good retention effect when the housing 33 is
directly injected into the terminal modules 34. Each of the metal
strengthening members 35 include main body 351 in longitudinal
direction, a plurality of fixing fingers 352 downward extending
from the main body 351. The fixing fingers 352 is inserted into the
mounting hole 24 of the PCB 2 and fixed on the PCB 2 through
welding, so as to further achieve the location between the electric
connector 3 and the PCB 2, and at the same time, achieve the
grounding effect. In the present invention, each of the metal
strengthening members 35 include three fixing fingers 352 at the
left, right ends and the middle of the conductive terminals 341 for
achieving the best fixed effect, and the fixing fingers 352 is
arranged on a plane to facilitate welding. In other embodiment, the
position and quantity of the fixing fingers 352 can also be
adjusted according to the actual situation. In another embodiment,
the fixing fingers 352 can also be mounted on the other component
of the electrical connector 3, such as the bottom of the housing 33
or terminal module 34 through the fixing fingers 352 matched with
the corresponding part of the PCB 2 to achieve the fixation. The
main body 351 is attached to the surface of the insulating
protrusion 342 in the terminal module 34 to strengthen the overall
strength of the electrical connector 3; while the fixing fingers
352 is used to be fixed on the PCB 2 so that the electrical
connector 3 can be fixed more steadily on the PCB 2.
The two longitudinal ends of the main body 351 of the metal
strengthening members 35 include inwardly bent connecting portions
353 and positioning pins 354 extending downward from the connecting
portion 353. The connecting portions 353 of two metal strengthening
members 35 are bent toward each other so that the positioning pins
354 of the two are abutted against each other and stacked with each
other. In this invention, the positioning pins 354 are abutted
against each other are not welded and fixed together, while in
other embodiment, two adjacent positioning pins 354 may also be
welded and fixed together by spot welding, soldering or the like so
as to improve the fixing effect of the metal strengthening members
35 on the terminal modules 34. When the housing 33 is
injection-molded, the positioning post 3311 of the housing 33 is
enclosing the positioning pins 354 of the metal strengthening
members 35 so that the positioning post 3311 of the housing 33 can
have a higher strength, also the positioning post 3311 is fixed on
the PBC 2 and subjected to an impact that the positioning post 3311
is not prone to fracture. In this embodiment, the positioning pins
354 do not protrude from the positioning posts 3311, while in other
embodiment, the positioning pins 354 can protrude from the
positioning posts 3311 so that the positioning post 3311 can be
positioned during the boarding operation. After the boarding, the
positioning pins 354 are soldered with the PCB 2 to increase the
resistance of the electrical connector 3 grip force.
In this invention, six conductive terminals 341 of the electrical
connector 3 are respectively soldered on the PCB 2 by SMT (Surface
Mount Technology). It not only achieves the positioning between the
electrical connector 3 and the PCB 2, but also to save more space
on the small PCB for the layout of the PCB design and the placement
of the electronic components. At the same time, the electrical
connector 3 includes a plurality of fixing fingers 352 inserted
into the mounting holes 24 of the PCB 2 and fixed to the PCB 2 by
welding to further reinforce the holding force between the
electrical connector 3 and the PCB 2 to ensure axial retention and
law phase shear. In the preferred embodiment, by distributing the
fixing fingers 352 on the left and right ends and the middle of the
bottom of the electrical connector 3, the distribution is evenly
distributed so as to achieve the best holding effect. This
invention adopts two different welding methods to position the
electrical connector 3 and the PCB 2 in different positions to
achieve the best retention effect. The power cord 82 is centered,
and the signal line 81 is disposed on the left and right of the
power cord 82 and the fixing leg 352 is soldered directly to the
PCB to achieve grounding in this invention. It is simple to
manufacture and the structure is compact.
While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present
invention has been shown and described, equivalent modifications
and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the
spirit of the present invention are considered within the scope of
the present invention as described in the appended claims.
* * * * *